CompUSA, Inc., was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nationwide big box chain. At its peak, it operated at least 229 locations. Crushed by competition from other brick-and-mortar retailers, corporate oversight which was out of touch with evolving market realities, and a failure to make a strong transition to online sales, CompUSA began closing what they classified as "low performing" locations in 2006. By 2008 only 16 locations were left to be sold to Systemax. In 2012, remaining CompUSA and Circuit City stores were converted to TigerDirect stores, and later closed. As of 2023, the CompUSA online website redirects to an error page hosted on Wix.com.
History
Founded in 1984 as Soft Warehouse in Addison, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas, by Errol Jacobson and Mike Henochowicz, the company began national expansion in 1988 with its first megastore opening in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1991, the company's name was changed to CompUSA, and the company became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. While under Nathan P. Morton's leadership, CompUSA grew to over $2 billion in revenues. Morton resigned in 1993.
Formerly headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Commercial Corp S.A.B. de C.V. associated with Grupo Carso and indirectly controlled by a common shareholder, Carlos Slim.
On December 7, 2007, an affiliate of the restructuring and disposition firm Gordon Brothers Group, Specialty Equity, bought the company. Systemax purchased the CompUSA name, 16 retail locations and other company assets in January 2008.
Systemax operated CompUSA retail stores in California, Florida, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Puerto Rico, as well as CompUSA.com, a retail website and a dedicated catalog site for businesses.
On November 2, 2012, Systemax announced that it would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront names, consolidating their businesses under the name, TigerDirect. On December 4, 2013, CompUSA intellectual properties were sold to JASALI 645 Realty LLC. On October 25, 2018, the intellectual properties of CompUSA were leased to DealCentral, and has announced to relaunch CompUSA.com in that same day.